Break the Pattern: Tri-Wizard
by Squirrel of Shadow
Summary: As Tri-Wizard tournament approaches, Harry Potter prepares himself. He is unwilling to dance to the whims of manipulative old men, and he's laid the groundwork for what he has to do. This year's Quiddich has already been cancelled, and with the shadow of the Tournament threatening him with peril, Harry's got a plan to slip the old manipulative bastard's leash. Crack-ish! Bash!Draco
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 1: Preparation is the Key**

Harry Potter was a young man who had began to see a pattern. Ever since his parents were killed, he had been thrown from one disaster to another. A decade of Dursleys might have crushed his spirit entirely if he had let it. Starting school he had hoped for friends only to find Dudley chase away anyone that he might have shared a few words with. Being abandoned by the Dursleys to the care of the old cat-lady of Privet Drive every time his family went on a vacation, he was used to not being valued.

The letter addressed to him in the cupboard under the stairs had been a turning point in a sense. He had thought things would get better when he learned he was a wizard, but while he actually got to eat more and make friends, things had soon began to look more grim. The childish excitement of learning magic was replaced by the revelation how much rot there was in the magical world. Things were hardly fun, care-free and joyful on several past days.

The first year's challenges with the stone, and a murderous teacher, had taught him to watch out for plots. He doubted Dumbledore's word about having destroyed the stone and had indeed snuck into the headmaster's office by watching vice headmistress McGonagall take some paperwork up there with the password spoken to the gargoyle. Slipping in after her under the cloak of invisibility, he had stayed long enough to _steal back_ the stone, and then address it in a package to Gringotts to be put into a vault along with permission for only himself or the Flamels to retrieve it, asking them to take the cost out of his vault. Sending a letter to the Flamels, he had escaped the headmaster's office for another summer in Durzkaban.

The second year had got off to a bad start with Lucius Malfoy's interfering with the shopping trip, setting the tone for the year. The pompous poet and poor excuse for a teacher they had in defense that year made him want to hit his head in the wall. He suffered through his classes however, up until the now infamous duel where his talent in parseltongue was revealed. The shunning he received darkened his opinion about the wizarding world.

He could partly understand them, the chamber of secret was rumored to have been opened and parseltongue was an ability that Slytherin founder was known to have had. They saw two facts and put them together to assume Harry was behind the attacks. In the end, his dear Hermione had been caught up in the mess, and he knew he had to solve it. Ultimately it had turned out well, but even so, it was a year of trials and misery, and though most accepted the Headmaster's word the matter had been solved, there were no true apologies for their suspicions and shunning.

His summer that year had involved a trip to the London and to the Gringotts, where he negotiated about a deal about the dead Basilisk's sale. The goblins had confirmed he had the right as its slayer, and after he agreed to join them, the group had made its way through Hogwarts into the chamber. Most of the teachers were away at the time, and Hagrid hadn't minded helping Goblins out, not paying too much attention to the cloaked figure among them as he was compensated for his help by a nice hogshead of Ogden's finest. As far as the man was concerned, they had sworn they meant no harm to the school or people in it, and that had been enough for him to let them in. Harvesting the Basilisk had not taken long with magic, and after packing all they could into the shrinkable trunks with them, they had left the grounds a lot richer than they had entered.

The end of the summer with Sirius Black scare was not a pleasant one, but the Goblins had already informed him about the man being his godfather so he had made quiet inquiries about the matter through the goblins to the ministry and the state of Sirius' trial. He had also made sure that any access to his vaults was blocked for the headmaster, who's guardianship he was questioning with a fair share of harsh words that the goblins seemed to find extremely amusing. Who knew they thought creative cussing was an art form?

Having blocked withdrawals or even information about his trust vault or the newly set up vault that housed his share of the money from the Basilisk's fall, he had learned about the Family vault holding mostly relics of the family and asked to have it frozen entirely till he came of age, to prevent Dumbledore's long fingers, and asking the goblins to make sure nothing had been removed since his parents death. A checking was made, and several angry letters sent to Dumbledore to return goods he had taken, including a pensieve the old man had claimed as his own. The investment vault was untouchable to Dumbledore thankfully, and even he would have to be thirty to access it, though the proceeds mostly went to the main vault, which did not hold the deeds or the galleons used for investing, but merely the wealth currently at hand for spending.

Learning that Dumbledore had been dipping into that vault regularly and cancelled the policy of returning three quarters of its contents to the investment vault to add to the family investments at the end of the year, Harry was about ready to blow. He had immediately asked the goblins as the sole heir to withdraw all that _stolen money _from the Dumbledore accounts and a few other accounts he had paid to from Harry's funds, and returning the policy of three-quarters returned to investments at the end of each year to effect, as well as banning anyone but himself from accessing that vault anymore. He went as far as to appeal to the Goblin council for fraud after pointing out Dumbledore had not been named as his Guardian by his parents on any accepted document and the will that would have pointed out the true guardian had been sealed on Dumbledore's orders.

This lead to a lot of legal mess that Dumbledore was facing that summer while Harry did his shopping and stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the vacation after his escape from Durzkaban. The goblins hadn't been happy, and went after Dumbledore's accounts with vengeance. Though they could claim back a lot, including close and transfer all the money back from a vault opened for 'Phoenix Foundation' that had apparently been funded solely on Potter money, the goblins had practically crushed the Dumbledore family other than what belonged to Albus' brother, whom they left alone after confirming his finances had been his own. Albus, however, would find himself with only his petty cash vault intact and saddled with a debt to pay back the money taken, even though the losses from abandoning the investment policy were far beyond the sum actually taken from the vaults.

That year had shown Dumbledore a lot more surly, and a lot more aggravated, but as far as he was concerned, Harry hadn't had anything to do with it, the goblins had caught up with his scheme and even threatened him that they wanted to speak to the Potter heir soon about his accounts if Dumbledore kept insisting on having access to the vaults again. The old man had growled and nearly thrown a tantrum, but eventually left. Harry had been learning a bit of occlumency already though, courtesy of the Goblins, and thus managed to resist the legilimency probe long enough to avert his gaze and break the connection.

Still, Dumbledore tried to manipulate things in his favor. He needed a money-bin, and with Potter vaults sealed to him and Sirius Black returning, he sought to help them out at the end to let Sirius escape, hoping to get his hands on the Black family fortune instead. A bit of advice to Hermione Granger, and a time-turner trip to the past, and the golden duo managed to save his godfather. By that point, he pretended to be clueless about Ron's true loyalties, having seen the Weasleys on the list of recipients on the account transfers done illegally, including Ron's own personal vault that was held in stasis till he would turn seventeen. Not that it would contain more than thirty sickles after the Goblins learned about the truth.

The third year's end had seen Harry slipping Sirius a letter about all he had found out over the years before they parted ways, and Albus was dumbfounded to not have Sirius contact him after his escape, but leave the country and start the proceedings to get a trial abroad, too far away from Dumbledore's influence for the trial to be delayed until the wise old man could get there to manipulate things to his own advantage.

Time and time again, Dumbledore had tried to screw him over, and Harry's opinion of the man could not have been any lower. In fact, he wanted the old man dead for all he had done, from abandoning him as a child to carefully setting things in motion to have him tested like a good little puppet year after year. He was not keen on seeing what the fourth year's challenge would be, so when the announcement about the return of a dangerous, often lethal tournament came, he knew he would not submit to this any longer.

**Champions Selection**

The crowd had gathered at the great hall, watching the fabled Goblet of Flame practically glow with power, the magic running through it rushing through every piece of parchment that had been thrown into it, evaluating them and setting them ready to complete its task. A little bit of outside magic disrupted the usually clear-cut selection, but the goblet carried on with the selection, the first piece of parchment flying in the air.

Snatching it from the air, the headmaster Dumbledore read the first piece of parchment loudly. "The Champion for Durmstrang is... Victor Krum!"

Raising his hand to catch the next piece of parchment with a little bit of more grace having seen how high the goblet threw them, the headmaster continued after clearing his throat. "The Champion for Beauxbatons is... Fleur Delacour!"

As the third piece of parchment trailed around in the air, there was a short jump in its flight as it seemed to twirl in the air a moment before landing to the headmaster's out-stretched hand. "The Champion for ... what's this... Cheaters Prosper Academy is... Draco Malfoy!?" He sounded shocked.

Shocked silence remained in the room, nobody had expected that after being told no underage contestants were allowed. More than a few outraged glances were cast at Draco's direction, but before a pandemonium could truly begin the goblet sparked with angry flames and spat one more parchment out. Floating in the air, it too seemed to swirl and jump a little bit just before landing in the headmaster's hand, who held it up and read it. "The Champion for Hogwarts is..." He took a pause, looking over at the Hufflepuff table.

"Cedric Diggory!" This confused the group of people even more. As the four champions were being guided to the back room, both Dumbledore and Professor Moody looked puzzled and angry at how things had gone, but the glares that Madame Maxime was casting on Dumbledore and Draco Malfoy were evident, as were the looks from Karkaroff. Obviously neither of them was happy with the turn of events, but held their tongue till they were in the back room.

"That slimy snake, I should have known he'd pull something like this, ohh that ponsy ferret is going to love all the attention and all that gold and the fame, and the praise and... it just makes me... oooohh I'm so mad right now!" Ron was trying to keep from cursing as Hermione was staring at both Ron and Harry a bit worriedly. Harry, though, was simply shaking his head slightly.

"I don't know what Draco's trying to do, but the tournament is dangerous don't you think? They cancelled it originally because people lost their lives in it. They wanted only seventh-years because they're adults and should be able to take care of themselves. I think Draco's in an awful lot of trouble." Harry's words were met with a nod of approval from Hermione, but Ron looked outraged. "YOU DEFEND THAT SLIMY SNAKE!?" He shouted loudly, drawing people's attention.

Raising his voice slightly, Harry spoke in reply knowing they were now being listened in on by the people in the other tables too. "No, Ron, I'm just saying that the tournament is not going to be an easy one and Draco's so much younger that I don't see how he could manage to do more than forfeit at the beginning of each task, a shame that will not go away no matter how much he might cry about his daddy hearing about it."

This earned a few chuckles from Gryffindors who were quite familiar with Draco's parting words after losing an argument, but it had also set up a lot of conversation. Harry rested a hand on Hermione's hand at that time, looking at her in the eyes and speaking seriously. "You know, Hermione, the tournament usually also involved a ball of some sort, and we _were _asked to bring dress-robes this year. I may be a bit hasty but um, would you do me the honor of being my companion for the ball?" He saw her eyes widen and then felt the bushy hair tickling his nose as she slammed into his chest hugging him tightly and almost knocking him off his seat.

"Uh, I'll take that as a yes?" He smiled while wrapping his own arms around her as well, watching Ron staring mouth open food dropping onto his lap at the other side of the bench. "You better believe it mister!" Hermione chuckled and smiled, before blushing as she pulled back a bit noticing the people at the table staring at the two of them and more than a few clapping. Fred and George were handing some galleons over to Alicia and Katie from the looks of it, but receiving several others in turn, smirking amusedly.

"About time!" Katie shouted and then proceeded to congratulate the two, the two youths blushed up and embarrassed but smiling at their friends celebrating for them. It seemed an opinion was clear cut, Harry asking her out was taken as meaning they were dating now, and though they were embarrassed, they were also grateful for the support, even as Fred and George mentioned they thought Hermione was like a sister, and thus needed to give him the 'big brother' talk before Hermione's dad was around to give his own intimidation speech.

All of it was laughter and joy that evening, and as Harry slipped away to visit the loo a little later, people playfully pestered Hermione about her reaction but careful to not push it too far. Harry, meanwhile, made his way to the nearest boys bathroom and quietly dropped a piece of parchment in his hand to a sink, before casting a candle-lighting charm causing a spark of flame to set the parchment on fire before Harry went to a stall.

As the bit of parchment burnt away, the name 'Harry Potter' turned to ashes. Thank Merlin for switching charm, he thought to himself while finally relaxing. This had been the last straw, and the last year for him at Hogwarts. As soon as Sirius' case was clear, he'd leave with his Godfather to another country. He'd have to ask Hermione and her family to come along, but even if they were reluctant he'd at least make sure to stay in touch and visit during the Summers, but he was reasonably sure after he'd explain the reasons she'd join him even if they'd only go as far as Beauxbatons in France. It wasn't ideal, too close to Dumbledore still, but the French and the British didn't exactly get along so they'd be a lot safer there.

**End Chapter**

A/N: Not sure if this would be a one-shot, or if I should write a bit of follow-up for the individual tasks. I thought of it as a bit of loose idea about what would happen if Harry Potter had seen a pattern in things and began to take action years ago. Yes, I'd wager it is on the side of crack by the way things go Harry's way but I did this for my own amusement not as too serious bit of writing.

Besides, the thought of Harry accidentally replacing Cedric at first with Draco, paranoid in thinking it was certain to be his name, and then having the chance to 'redeem' himself by returning Cedric's parchment to the air when Harry's name actually came out seemed like a good way to go about it. Switching charm has been mentioned in various other stories before, but I am not sure if it's been used for -this-.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 2: Here there be Dragons**

In the days that followed the champions selection, the school had become divided into two factions. Cedric Diggory had the support of Hufflepuff, Gryffindors and most of the Ravenclaws, while Draco Malfoy basked in the support of Slytherin and a small number of Ravenclaws. It seemed the thought of denying had not even entered his mind, and Harry had to wonder if the blonde boy actually had attempted to enter himself into the tournament. He figured it was possible, given the protections had been so laughably poor one could just toss their name-slip from behind the age-line into the goblet.

Nonetheless, Harry and his friends were rooting for Cedric, and the Hufflepuffs were proud that one of theirs had been selected as the champion. While they were rivals, it seemed Krum and Fleur had accepted Cedric as an official champion and one of their peers, but Harry had to wonder if it was Snape's influence that made the Slytherins stand together for Malfoy, or if they truly believed one of their own deserved the chance. Harry was not convinced that Draco could get more than his bookends to support him without his father's influence and Snape as the head of Slytherin.

Nonetheless, in the days that followed Draco's robes had taken up shrinking, turning transparent, coloring themselves in pastel pink colors as well as sprouting white polka dots on a black surface from time to time. Some of it was the twins showing their opinion about the 'usurper champion' but there seemed to be more pranksters than just them in the school, based on the fact they were getting new ideas from some of the pranks they were seeing.

Harry found that Draco being busy with his preparations gave Harry a fair share of time to spend with Hermione, and the two of them studying together as well as hanging out together near the lake just by the two of them was making gossips wag their tongues. Ron had been calling them mental a few times but eventually headed off to play chess with the other boys at the dorm, leaving Harry and Hermione to hang out alone. Without distractions, the two of them talked a fair bit amidst studying, and their bond grew closer yet.

The wand weighing had come and gone rather quietly, but the look of smugness on the twins faces had caused Harry to wonder, at least until he saw the results in the next day's Daily Prophet. The image of Draco Malfoy holding up his wand, only to have it turn into a rubber chicken when handed to Ollivander, was used to great effect with the title _Malfoy Heir makes a Mockery of Tri-Wizard Tournament_. With Rita Skeeter's venomous quill put to good effect, it was evident that the house of Malfoy lost a lot of respect in one day.

Eventually the time came for the First Task. Lucius Malfoy had argued that as Draco had been named as the champion of a 'fourth school' of 'making one's own luck' that he needed to have a _judge _of his own too. Which lead to a fair bit of arguing, but ultimately Severus Snape found himself joining the other judges and smirking quietly while attending the first task.

Harry and Hermione had been just grateful that this year Harry hadn't been put into danger, as the two of them took a seat at the benches to watch the task, which appeared to be dragons. That alone made Harry very happy he had made sure not to participate, though also a small twinge of guilt about leaving Draco out there to be killed. Then again, given what a bully Draco had been over the years, he wasn't going to be feeling all that guilty.

The first three champions emerged to the arena one at a time, fighting with their own style. Cedric's transfiguration of stone to living hounds to distract the dragon had worked, partially, but the dragon's flames destroyed his creations before he could get away with the egg, and a blast of flame behind him burnt him slightly before he managed to get away, though the flame-freezing charm did at least keep him from being turned into a human torch.

Fleur had sought to charm the dragon to sleep by a combination of her Veela allure and a spell woven into her voice. Harry had a thought about the ancient sirens and wondered if there was a truth to the legends there somewhere. Nonetheless, as the French witch was walking away with the golden egg the otherwise seemingly perfect completion was ruined by the dragon snorting and blowing a small fireball setting her robes hem on fire. She quickly vanished a bit of cloth, showing some leg that to Harry wasn't really worth the whistling and cheering it got from other boys in the crowd, but he saw Hermione's beaming smile to him as he turned his gaze to her rather than watch the arena while Fleur rushed to the medical tent.

Krum's attempts had been met with a lot of booing and shouting as he struck the dragon's eyes with a blinding curse causing it to trash and smash some of its own eggs in pain and panic. Krum's approach made the dragon unpredictable, and as he neared the nest the dragon's tail swinged his way slamming him in the ribs with enough force to throw him out of the arena grounds. With a whimper he had been forced to forfeit the task, as he had to be carried to the medical tent.

Finally, it was turn for the youngest champion, and they brought out the biggest, fiercest dragon so far, and Harry felt himself tremble at the thought of having to face that himself. He was really grateful now that he had made the preparations. As Draco Malfoy strode out to the battlegrounds however, he seemed cocky and confident, grinning slightly and bowing to the applause by the Slytherin house.

As the task began Draco moved ahead slightly to get into cover, the boy seemed to hesitate a bit as the flames were blown over the rock he was taking shelter behind, but passing without harming him other than the hem of his robes smoking slightly, but as Draco turned his wand rose to cast something none had expected to see a wizard cast in public, before so many witnesses.

_"Avada Kedavra!"_ Draco's shout saw a thin green flash of spell rushing towards the dragon, striking it in the chest, and causing a moment of silence to hang in the air. The boy had cast an unforgivable, and hit a precious, rare dragon with it. Hermione's face showed outrage at this cruelty, and Harry stared wide-eyed too, while Snape sneered and smirked, while the other judges stared at them shocked.

As the dragon slumped down, Draco headed towards the nest to retrieve his egg while Dumbledore rose to stand casting Sonorous on himself. "Mr. Malfoy, what do you think you are doing!? Using unforgivables is unforgivable, for a reason! Those spells corrupt your very soul! Dear boy, do you really think-" At this point, Snape was on his feet too, a wand under his chin.

"Mr. Malfoy has done nothing wrong, the unforgivables are unforgivable to cast on _humans_ or other _intelligent beings_, but they were _made _to be used to strike down magic-resistant beings in the past eras, and the tournament rules do suspend many more modern laws like banning the unforgivables. When the tournament began, they were _regularly _used to put down dangerous beasts!"

The two men arguing might have held more interest than Draco and the arena, but Hermione's loud gasp drew Harry's attention to her, and looking where she was looking, seeing Draco holding the egg heading back proudly, but behind him, the angry Dragon raising its head.

It seemed others became aware of this turn in events too, seeing the dragon draw breath more than a few screamed, just in time to draw everyone's attention to Draco Malfoy as a huge fireball rushed over the blonde ferret, causing his robes to burn away to reveal a bit of dragonhide vest and pants he was carrying, the charms for flame-freezing trying to struggle against the intense heat of the dragonfire, and the blonde hair and the many potions used to making it slick and glorious as a Malfoy must always present himself as starting to spark flames.

Screaming and dropping his egg as he dashed towards the healer's tent, Draco's hair was on fire, his robes gone, the protective dragonhide having saved his life but his skin burnt like he had been way too long in the sun nonetheless, and the crowd struggling between being horrified and laughing at the sight of the ponsy poof's hair burning as he was running for his dear life. The dragon following him seemed to notice the golden egg on the ground and smashed it apart with its talons, blowing flames after Draco towards the healer's tent.

Thankfully, the magic kept the flames from leaving the arena grounds but as Draco left the arena the judges had no choice but to declare the Heir Malfoy to have forfeit this task, given that his egg had been destroyed and he was going to need a few days in the infirmary to recover under Poppy Pomfrey's watchful eyes.

A lot of debating went on later that day, people muttering about Draco being a future death-eater and a dark wizard, as well as loud snorting and snickering as some wondered aloud if he was going to be a 'bald ferret' from this point onwards. There was a general agreement though that the reasons Snape had named had sounded partially interesting but more like excuses than a real reason to permit the use of unforgivable even against what they thought to be a non-intelligent beast.

Nonetheless, Cedric and Fleur were in the lead, with Fleur just a little ahead of Cedric mostly because Dumbledore and Snape were hardly impartial judges, Snape worse so than Dumbledore. Krum had received some points because it _might _have worked, but not that many given that he was penalized for destroyed eggs and injuring the dragon, as well as failing to complete the task. Draco was the very last and given the massive penalty for daring to try and cast an unforgivable on the dragon, he was actually at negative total.

The dragon-tamers had actually sworn that they'd never bring their charges for a tournament again after seeing what Krum and Draco had done, and complained to the International Confederation of Wizards about the poor organization of the event and the harm done to the valuable, rare creatures that the dragons had become.

There was quite a lot of bribing going on in the background by Malfoy Senior to let his son's actions be passed over as 'dim witted but more misinformed than malicious' and to reach a sentence of 'just don't do it again'. Of course, the rumors that Malfoy fortune had been halved in doing so didn't help Draco regain his standing among the Slytherin after the infamous failure.

Though as the year continued along, Harry had began to worry about a little problem he had. Namely, nobody had taught him how to dance. Fidgeting about it and worrying if Hermione would dump him for someone who actually could dance, he let himself worry more and more. Luckily, Hermione proved quite observant and knowing Harry's behaviour so she confronted him about it soon enough.

After a brief and embarrassing confession, Harry found himself gently chastised for not speaking to her about the problem earlier, and then a sweet smile as she lead him to an empty classroom along with a borrowed old gramophone from Professor McGonagall's office. She'd borrowed it for a good cause after hearing what it was for, and in the coming weeks, Harry began to shape up to be an adequate, if not exactly a fantastic dancer. He was unlikely to be the prince of the ball, but at least he shouldn't be able to stumble on his two feet during it.

Finally, the season of celebrations came and the ball was upon them. Harry had asked Hermione as soon as he could, but Ron seemed to have been struggling about asking someone. While Harry and Hermione had been practicing, a rumor started that Ronald Weasley had tried to ask Fleur Delacour to the dance. Actually, it seemed he had practically shouted it at her, and run off right after. Trying to blame his nerves on Harry setting the bar too high after asking out Hermione, Ron found himself facing a lot of laughter and teasing, but Harry just shook his head quietly at the whole ordeal. Hermione wasn't too amused either, but the two of them kept to one another's company more than Ron's company, the golden trio having become the platinum duet.

As the night of the ball came, Harry had found his jaw on the floor at the sight of Hermione's gown and the way her hair looked and the whole way she carried herself. The damn Hogwarts robes hid a lot, and he had acknowledged her as a young woman before, but seeing her in the dress robes had him silently swallow and quiet doubts try and whisper into his ear. He felt unprepared, and unworthy of her attention.

"Bloody hell, you look smashing..." Finding himself embarrassedly closing his mouth after that statement, he expected her to scold him for his language but instead found her smiling brightly and making him quiver a bit in place. They were young and it might not last, but in that evening's shade he found his heart beating fast just taking her hand in his, and walking by her side to wait for the dance to begin. The champions had the honor of starting things after all.

The people had paired up for the celebration already, and the two of them could see Cedric standing besides Cho, and Fleur besides Roger Davies, and Victor Krum back on his feet besides Daphne Greengrass. Lastly there was Draco Malfoy besides Pansy Parkinson, though the two of them drew a fair bit of eyes.

Draco's hair had not started to return, and the polished dome of his bald head seemed to almost sparkle in the candle light, earning a measure of mirth from a few people. Pansy's dress robes were obviously expensive, but were squeezing her in a way suggesting she had put on a couple of pounds after they had initially been fitted for her. All things considered, they seemed to carry on with making a mockery of the Tri-Wizard events though in a far more subtle fashion this time around. Unintentional or not, McGonagall's stern glance at them voiced some of her opinion even without words before she informed everyone loudly about the champions starting the dance.

As the ball began, Harry found himself captivated by Hermione's eyes, dancing close to her enjoying the moment as long as he could, not caring about the others. Just the two of them and the music playing, the dance-floor calling, and the very difficult challenge of not looking down at the cut of her dress despite how a part of him kept urging him to do. Dancing close by, he enjoyed the scent of her, whether perfume or soap it was just so different, up close holding her, inhaling her scent, feeling her hand squeeze his own, her eyes not leaving his own either.

They were so lost in each other they almost missed it when a shriek and a sound smack broke the peace of the evening, and a stunned Draco Malfoy sat on his arse at the middle of the ballroom, Pansy's ballgown partly torn and exposing a bit more of her than she might have wanted to show everyone, and McGonagall hurrying in to lead the two of them out, the red palm print on Draco's cheek pulsing.

"What the heck happened?" Harry muttered to himself and glanced at Hermione who looked equally puzzled, before Fred and Angelina, who were dancing near them, leaned a bit closer to whisper. "Draco was staring at Fleur's rump and Pansy tried to push him back and scold him for it but the git managed to tear part of her dress, making her scream and slap him. I wish I had a camera to capture that." Angelina's jab into his ribs had the lad quickly trying to explain he only meant catching the slap on it but it was obvious he had gotten himself in trouble too with those words.

**End Chapter**

A/N: More of a clumsy continuation to the first one-shot bit, figured alright I might try and put something together about the Tri-Wizard tasks and what else goes on. Not much but something. I figure I'll see if there's any interest, possibly continuing onwards to 2nd task and the 3rd one too, but will have to see when I get there.

Glad that some folks found the one-shot bit interesting enough there might be interest for a bit of continuation, but as this chapter might show, it is mostly improvisation as the champions selection was the main idea I had in mind, though I am not averse to writing a bit more if there is interest.

"Moody" is still at school and despite the problems something more might come up later on, if there's enough interest I will have to see if I'll carry this on to some conclusion about that too, but again, it'll be more improvisation than a nailed-down-plotline at this point. A little scribble that took on a life of its own.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 3: That Sinking Feeling**

The fourth year at Hogwarts was turning out better for Harry Potter than all the previous years had been. The embarrassing, slightly awkward mess had been him trying to learn how to dance and hanging out with Hermione the attractive young woman, rather than Hermione the serious but well-meaning friend.

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was bouncing from humiliation to humiliation, and whoever had tried to enter him into the contest had not managed to rope him into any other mess just yet. He had a feeling it would not last, but Harry had been enjoying his break. That didn't mean he had been idle. Pulling out the Marauder's Map he had come to ascertain that Professor Moody spent a lot of his time in his office along the year, but given the man's paranoid nature, that didn't seem too strange to him.

Yet he had noticed another name that frequently ran into the headmaster and other staff members even at after-hours when no students should be on the loose. It was a name he wasn't familiar with. Barty Crouch Junior. He knew Barty Crouch was responsible for the organization of the tournament, but the Junior wasn't familiar to him.

So he had put together a message for Sirius, and considered sending it by Hedwig, before wondering about his mail. He had been wondering for a good while if it was safe, with his lovely familiar Hedwig being so noticeable, and truthfully he wasn't entirely sure the Headmaster hadn't warded Harry's mail to be redirected through his office just to keep tabs of Harry's doings.

Considering the necessity for some precautions, he called out Dobby, and once the excitable elf had appeared, Harry carefully explained the importance of the matter, and made Dobby an offer. If Dobby swore to keep Harry's secrets safe from anyone but those Harry had given a permission to tell them, Harry would take Dobby as his own personal house-elf.

The little fellow had hugged his foot and cried so happily Harry had momentarily felt a little ashamed of attaching such conditions to his offer, but the little elf had then happily made his oath, and got sworn in service. Harry had been amazed to find out just how much a house elf gained power from their master or mistress, or the family they served. Given that they gained this power as 'payment' for the 'services' they gave, such as cooking or cleaning, it made more sense to him why House Elves were servants to the magical people.

Hermione might throw a hissy fit when she found out, but Harry would just have to get her to listen to him, he thought to himself quietly that time. Sending a letter by the way of Dobby, he found the little elf soon returning along with a gift from Sirius, a hand-held mirror and a note with some instructions upon it. Part of him was excited, and part of him was feeling wary after the experience with the Mirror of Erised, but he trusted Sirius and Dobby enough to take the chance.

After the mirror's surface turned to show Sirius, the two of them shared a lengthy conversation that left Harry more wary of his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Checking the map quietly before the lessons, he saw Moody stuck in his office, while Barty Crouch Junior was making his way to the classroom for Defense. The Map wasn't fool-proof, as Pettigrew had been part of its creation, but it seemed a good enough reason for him to be wary of the man.

Having witnessed the unforgivable curses being demonstrated in the classroom earlier that year, he had to admit Moody was impressive teacher, or rather the imposter pretending to be Moody was an impressive teacher. It didn't make him any more comfortable with the thought that they might try and attack him or kidnap him at some point though. Having learned their school was hosting a yet _another _death-eater was certainly a thought that soured his mood. As if Snape wasn't bad enough.

Still, time had passed and the dawn of the second task was upon the Hogwarts students. Harry and Hermione had taken a seat near the lake watching the tents set up and the judges seeming to be talking about something together. Ron wasn't there yet, but given the hour it was likely he was still stuffing his face in the castle, getting a lot more to eat than usual, without anyone else there to watch just how much he could stuff into his guts. Harry had to admit Ron was a real black hole sometimes when it came to food.

"Is this seat free? I would rather not sit alone, and it looks like you don't have any wrackspurts." A dreamy voice spoke a bit hesitantly, and Harry found himself looking at a young blonde woman, perhaps a year younger than him and Hermione, carrying the colors of Ravenclaw and a dazed look on her face.

"Um, yes it is free, please join us." Harry smiled, noticing a bit of himself in that hesitation, though her mention of wrackspurts had confused him. Hermione looked thoughtful too, but smiled encouragingly to her as well.

"Thank you. I didn't fancy sitting all alone, its cold enough even wrapped up in a lot of clothes, I would hate to think how chilly the lake water is. I mean, it is obviously not frosted over but it doesn't feel like it would take a lot for that to happen." Luna remarked while leaning against Harry's side, causing him to pause momentarily. Hermione frowned slightly but leaned to Harry's other side in turn.

"Erm, well it is a little chilly, yeah. I hope they'll be alright, Cedric's a nice guy after all." Harry smiled though feeling a bit overwhelmed. He wasn't used to being touched, though he did think he felt no pain from this, just a bit of tension about the strangeness of it. The Dursleys had not exactly prepared him for someone touching him without hurting him.

The frequent slaps on the head might not be true physical abuse but they weren't pleasant touches either. Hermione's hugs had him a bit tensed up, as he recalled Vernon grabbing him and throwing him into the cupboard in those moments, but neither of the girls seemed intent to drag him somewhere small and dark and lock him in there.

Though he had heard that in the later years girls sometimes dragged some boys into the broom closets. That might be a bit scary. Then again, some guys were rather insistent on trying to get the girls into the broom closets with them in turn as well. So he was a little torn about that, but for now, he just tried to relax in between the two surprisingly nice-scented girls feeling both tense and yet warm within.

Nevertheless, it seemed that the preparations were complete and soon the champions were being escorted towards the shore. The judges stood at ready, while the champions got directed to a nearby tent to wait. A few students wandered out with cups of hot chocolate with them, seeming to sip on them while waiting and watching. Warming charms in the stands kept them from getting too cold, but the wind was still chilly, and thinking about slipping in the lake's cool waters made Harry even more grateful for not having to take part in this fiasco.

While Harry had thought the first task to be entertaining in some ways, he wondered how the people were supposed to enjoy the second task without being able to see what the champions were doing underwater. Nonetheless, Krum's impressive self-transfiguration, albeit incomplete, was worth more than a few 'ooh' sounds in the audience. Fleur's impressive figure in her swimsuit drew a similar reaction as she cast a bubblehead charm upon herself and slipped into the waters. Cedric's hand rose to his lips swallowing something quickly and seeming to be _changing_ slightly as well, far less than Krum, but enough to help him in the task.

Draco Malfoy was the last of the champions to cast away his robe, revealing his pale body as he rushed towards the water. Like Cedric, he wore simple trunks to cover his modesty, but he also wore a wand-holster around his left arm and a belt around his waist which seemed to hold several pouches.

The crowd saw Draco slip something into his mouth before he dove underwater, and then, only the ripples on the surface of the lake were visible. It was looking like this would be a boring task that would hardly be worth watching, but then a set of four large cloth canvas could be seen lifting into the air, strung between two heavy, long wooden poles. On each of them a ghostly image began to form, before starting to clarify quickly. It surprised Harry, but he could see what they were doing and relaxed. Maybe it wouldn't be so boring after all.

"It looks like a wizarding version of a television, but I think it's actually a practical use of divination and the scrying principles by Irma Frost, I read about that in the library when going through the previous tournaments, it's pretty tasking to cast it even once, let alone four times, and I imagine it must have been part of the reason for the long waiting period for the task if the headmasters had to work together to create these for the event." Hermione spoke excitedly as they watched the screens, but Luna simply smiled serenely and squeezed Harry's hand in her own quietly, leaning to his shoulder.

The champions found themselves quickly challenged in a number of ways. From the sudden attack by a Giant Squid trying to squeeze the stuffings out of Krum's half-shark form, to the grindelow attack on Fleur that actually tore part of her top, much to the pleasure of many now idiotically grinning buffoons in the crowd. Cedric himself had been surprised by a merrow. The sea-nymphs were said to be the Irish cousins of the more common mermaids and mermen, but with a noticeable difference.

Given the way the judges hurried to try and have that image blurred quickly when the Merrow grasped him into a kiss and pulled him along towards seaweed, it was apparent the sea-nymph's attentions were a bit embarrassing for the judges. Then again, while the mermaids and mermen were the main denizens of the lake, the merrows were the ones originally called 'sea-singers' or 'Sirens'. As the Veela were to fire and air, so were they within the waters and their voice. More than a few people thought that once the word got out to Cho Chang there might be a breakup ahead for the wizarding couple.

Draco, meanwhile, was making a steady progress. A pair of grindelows had tried to attack him but as soon as he fired a green curse at the creatures they spread out and rushed away, seeming to recognize that the dark wizard in training had no qualms about killing them if they got in his way. That didn't mean they didn't stalk him but they didn't dare to approach.

With all the struggles that the other champions were facing, it was not a huge surprise that the bald ferret actually made it through to the mermish village first. There at the heart of it at a clearing were four poles driven to the lakebed, with four people secured with thick ropes into them. Daphne Greengrass, Cho Chang, Pansy Parkinson, and lastly, a young blonde girl that stood out.

The champions dates for the ball, Draco thought to himself briefly, other than the one selected for Fleur. Then again, he had heard that the wizard tried to grope her after the ball when he should have been escorting her back to her carriage. Instead, he had sought to press on. The french champion had fireballed him, and a few muggleborns had been commenting something about 'roasted chestnuts' after that day. It made sense they picked someone else for her, she would have left that man at the bottom after all.

Thinking he was doing pretty well actually, Draco didn't see a reason to hurry, and unaware that others were witnessing him and his actions, he thought he could make use of the circumstances while all those ladies were unconscious. Cruel smirk spread to his lips as he stepped forth.

It was a shocked audience that watched Draco grope and try and undress Daphne Greengrass, but the mermen hurried in with their spears threatening Draco to leave her alone, but as Draco cast a killing curse at one of them their chief hurriedly slammed ahead with the back of his spear to the back of Draco's skull. Attaching the bald ferret to a large pouch the mermen focused on a lengthy, archaic chant to work their magic into filling the pouch with air to the point of starting to tug the ferret towards the surface. They sent him up that way, unconscious but alive, rather than let him keep competing after acting that way.

The rest of the hour passed eventually, as Cedric finally made his way to Cho to cut her free and take her to the surface, with Krum following soon after to release Daphne, though seeming a bit awkward at noticing the witch's dress was partly tugged open. Unaware of the screens, he actually earned some respect from a number of witches for tugging Daphne's clothes back in their proper place while looking away, before heading to the surface with her.

Fleur had struggled and been injured on her way over, but even so she pushed on forth figuring she'd be the last. It surprised her to find not only her little sister but the infuriating ferret's prisoner there. Given how late it was, she cut her sister free only to have the mermen approach her and gesture towards Pansy as well. She hesitated, but cut the other woman free as well and headed to the surface.

The following days saw the events that took place spark a huge set of arguments in Wizengamot. House Malfoy lost what remaining influence it had once held, and Lord Greengrass had come close to declaring a blood feud on House Malfoy for the offence on his daughter. It had taken a magical oath on his magic from Draco Malfoy, to even permit him to stay at Hogwarts anymore.

He didn't like the idea of an oath that forbid him from trying to even touch a witch until he was eighteen, but it was either that or being disowned, as even his father had had enough of Draco's behavior. Though he had told Draco his mistake had been that Draco got caught, so Draco did respect his dad on that part at least.

As for Harry, the outrage among the Slytherin had been noticeable, and by Luna's encouragement he had even extended an olive branch by talking to the Slytherin directly, though only after Sirius had (reluctantly) agreed that the time was (probably) right for that. It helped that it would hurt Malfoy even worse, he had to admit to himself.

Announcing his reasons for not joining Slytherin despite the hat's suggestion in the first year had shocked more than a few people. His admission of having got his first impression of houses from Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley wasn't well received, but the people involved had agreed they had seen his point. His open offer of trying to rein in the Weasley Twins and their pranks, or at least confine them to the 'embarrassment of Hogwarts' that Draco was becoming, had sparked a rare sort of accord in the school.

Luna's dazed state and imaginative names for the creatures only she seemed to know about may have made her strange for most people, but Harry saw she observed a lot more than she let on. She had a madness to her method, and a method to her madness, and Harry admitted he found her fascinating in some ways.

Though he knew Hermione better, it seemed that Luna was also happy to sit down and chat with him, and with her it was less about schoolwork and more about the world in general. In fact, she was the one that came up with the suggestion he look into alternate schooling and even an offer to join along if he found a place that he thought worth the transfer-induced-paperwork.

All in all, he was thinking about it rather seriously, but there was still the third task awaiting, and Harry wasn't entirely sure what would happen. Whoever had tried to enter him in the tournament to begin with would make their move soon, and Harry had to be ready. Luna's comments about it and the joking that her 'inner eye' told her that Harry would not escape trouble until she escaped 'the goat-smelling-old-lemondrop-pusher' and Hogwarts had struck a nail.

Funny as her thoughts were at times, the way she had approached him and mentioned transfer and so many other things had made Harry wonder if there might just be something to Divination after all. Especially as he had to admit that Luna was right in a number of things he had no idea how she could know. He also knew that if he decided to leave, he might have to tell Hermione, but Luna had left him with one last bit of warning that chilled him to the bone.

Hermione may value his friendship, but she was the one that went to McGonagall about the broom he had received last year because she thought it was the right thing to do. If Hermione thought that staying at Hogwarts was the right thing to do and he trusted in her, would she go straight to the headmaster? As much as he wanted to deny it, Harry had to admit Luna had a point.

The fact it also left Harry open for looking for a new friend to trust in and Luna had slipped to his side at that time made it seem so _Slytherin _of her in a way, but he had noticed she never lied to him. She never did try and hide her thinking. She might switch topics at times and leave him baffled, but she did not outright lie to him, or act without his permission. It was worth some thinking.

As the third task loomed in the horizon, a certain angry teacher was finalizing his plans. The Hogwarts wards against Portkeys would not come down until the day of the third task, and there would only be one chance. The little golden ball on his desk would be the final chance he had. Who knows, the boy's own reflexes might work against him. Grinning cruelly as he layered the portkey magic into the finely made snitch, Professor Moody cackled for a minute before returning his attention to the _other _assignment he had.

Helping the Malfoy brat try and _not _make a mockery of Slytherin was an uphill battle, but if the boy could win in the end it would salvage a little at least. The Malfoy senior had been a useful pawn in the past after all, and having them owe a favor to the Dark Lord would help a great deal. Besides, there was no way that they could let anyone but a British wizard win the task, and it simply would not do for a Hufflepuff to show off against Slytherin and triumph.

**End Chapter**

A/N: For what should have been a simple one-shot piece of the selection and nothing more, this turned out to be a weird little tale. Ah well, I got 1 or 2 more chapters to put together I suppose, if I want to add to this little twisted tale.

I have not forgot my other tales, but I have been trying to rework an earlier idea and that has taken some time out of those.

While I have my own thoughts of "Harry/insert your favorite girl" pairings, I dislike Harry/Ginny pairings because of the way the original stories ended. Having the author (J.K. Rowlings) then later come out and admit she had planned for Harry/Hermione end result, well it just makes me wonder how that could twist into a Harry/Ginny pairing I personally cannot see happening. Still, different people have different tastes, and the original books are what they are. I enjoy fanfiction because they present so many alternative options and thoughts.

That said, I have had some pretty clumsy attempts of humor in some of my stories, and this one isn't excluded from that number either, but I didn't find that many funny things in this chapter as I had too many other thoughts in mind. I still hope its tolerable read at least though.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 4: Third Time's the Hex**

Things had been changing amusingly over the year, as Draco Malfoy managed to drive his reputation further and further to the depths, ruining his status. The fact that Harry Potter respected Daphne Greengrass more than him and considered her a foe more suited for him said something to his peers, as did his lost status and ruined looks.

The former Blonde Prince of Slytherin had expected the world to be handed over to him, but much of the Malfoy family fortune was now gone, and worse yet their influence was strained, having called in as many favors as they could to keep Draco from ending up in worse trouble than he had been through. This downward spiral had made him a laughing stock.

As the Third Task approached, Malfoy was silently wondering how he could turn things around but it seemed everything he tried fell apart. He had began to shift into a red-and-gold colored large canary every few hours for a few minutes lately, and he couldn't make head or heels about who did it and how. It couldn't be potions, his godfather Severus should make sure of that, and he had been alone on many of the occasions. The thought of delayed curses had entered his mind but nobody here at school should have that talent while still a student. That was newt-level stuff, post-newt level stuff actually.

It didn't help his status either that Krum had reacted this his actions towards his Yule ball date with a surprising amount of talent, and hexes and curses that were both easier to endure to the end than cure, and surprisingly complex resisting attempts to remove them before they ran through their course. Already he was sure he was going to be failing a few classes, and most of the Slytherin were now avoiding him like he was a mudblood.

Worse yet, it seemed that the crazy ditzy blonde of Ravenclaw had got her hooks into Potter and was teaching him about Pureblood manners, and customs. His last few taunts had been met with cold indifference and being practically shooed off as inconsequential. To a Malfoy that was far worse than any angry reaction he could have garnered from the lad. It made him bloody mad and want to hex the prick into the next week but he had to be cunning about it, Potter seemed to be learning and it was a bloody scary realization for him that without his backup he _knew_ that he would be beaten and humiliated.

At least Professor Moody was giving him some tips, a dark-wizard hunter or not, he seemed to have an interest in seeing Hogwarts win, though he seemed intent on helping both Malfoy and Cedric given they had both been given the same method to complete the second task. An early warning about mazes had come in handy too, and Malfoy had studied a lot of tomes about magical traps and creatures typically encountered in the mazes as well. While he wasn't exactly a studious person, he knew he would have only one chance at winning anymore. If he could not win, it was not sure the House of Malfoy could survive the negative press this bloody tournament had dumped on their backs.

Meanwhile, a troubled headmaster was having a huge headache with international news and trying to suppress them within Britain. Keeping Sirius Black out of contact with Harry would be difficult enough even without this. The Magical Gazette from the mainland loudly proclaimed Sirius Black's innocence and trial before the French courts, where he had appeared before the Delacour family swearing an oath on his innocence and requesting both sanctuary and a fair trial.

Dumbledore could not set a foot outside of Britain anymore for a while. His reputation was being torn apart with all the pensieve memories that Sirius Black had contributed, and evidence that Dumbledore himself had inspired the switch to Peter Pettigrew, and the memories he had been so sure had been obliviated from the man had come to haunt him.

With his new found freedom, and sanctuary granted by the French who were enjoying their chance to slap it in the British ministry's face that they had been treating one of their own elite so horribly, Dumbledore would not find any support from ICW to resist Sirius if he demanded the Potter heir to be released into his care as the boy's magical guardian and godfather who had sworn the old oaths. The fact that the Delacour matriarch had assumed Albus' old mantle as the Supreme Mugwump, and it was because of Sirius Black's revelations, it was fairly sure to assume that politically the Black had become a powerhouse.

Thankfully it seemed the fellow was spending more time relaxing on the beaches and recovering now than he was spending thinking about Harry, but that could change as the school year ended, and even before who knows. Albus' old contacts weren't reporting much to him anymore, and many had told him to lose their floo address before closing the connection quickly.

While the headmaster was worrying over his pieces running off to act on their own, Harry Potter was blushing furiously while fidgeting a bit in place. The blonde head resting against his chest listened to his fast heartbeat, but the soft hands around him made him slowly start to relax a little into the hug. The darkness of the cupboard had surprised him but he had agreed to the pretty blonde girl's request. He had been a little curious after all.

"_I think that Seattle School of Sorcery would suit us both best. While Beauxbatons seems promising I doubt it would be far enough. Though I would recommend it for Hermione, they are a lot more open on the continent than here in the Britain. Muggleborn Ministers are not unheard of there, not after the French Magicals followed the Muggle example in the revolution. One little nasty reminder to the Malfoys that they used to be 'most ancient and noble' until all their lands were taken away and their holdings burned in the revolution, arriving to Britain as a mere house without claim to a name and having to whore their mothers and daughters to raise coin, before their manipulations set in. The marriage with House Black is the only thing that has lent them any aura of respectability._"

Listening to Luna's whispers quietly, Harry nod his head and looked at her face in the dark, cramped broom closet, a bit of light shining in giving him just enough illumination to see her move her face closer. Shyly, tenderly, he leaned in and answered her by a kiss. Clumsy and awkward as it was, it was the price she demanded for sound advice. It was also a price he was growing a bit more comfortable paying as time went on.

_"Mentioning to Hermione that it would be curious to learn what different things people learn in different schools was not enough to give up the plans we have but put her on the right path to discover the ugly truth that Professors like McGonagall have to lie about. The reasons why Britain that used to be a center of many things has fallen behind in the Magical world, clinging onto the delusion that those glory days had not already ended." She let out a faint sigh at this, shaking her head. "Her revelations will be painful to her but it will make sure she will leave before being made a broodmare to some pureblood family of the 'light', practicing their own particular brand of bigotry."_

His lips touch on her own was met with a small moan from her throat as she snuggled up closely, a small chuckle leaving her lips soon after. Harry felt his cheeks were burning from embarrassment but she didn't seem to mind. Leaning against him happily as she seemed to pick up his worries without a word, speaking once more quietly.

_"You and Hermione went out, and you may feel a bit guilty about what is happening between us, but she has seen I like you. She has accepted me near you as well, alone and with her at our side. If she opens her eyes, I would be happy to have her join us. It is not in our hands however. We can show her the way, but..."_

Harry sighed quietly and nod his head. "...it must be her own choice to come along." They could not risk revealing their hand before they were ready, and though they could prepare to take her along, they should not assume that things would work out that well. It was far more likely the two of them would have to flee by themselves. At least the revelations had served the purpose of shaking her belief in authority figures.

Luna smiled silently as she caressed Harry's back gently and looked upon him. A little bit of advice here, a little push there she kept trying to guide things towards the better resolution. She had a bit of 'sight' but hardly ever cared to rely on it, as hints of the possibilities were vague and often as likely to happen as to not happen, depending on whether one acted upon them or not. Yet feeling the amount of changes that Harry was committing over the years, she knew she had to make a choice before the end of the year and that would help set how her life would turn out. She had chosen to put her fate in Harry's hands, and perhaps Hermione's she thought to herself silently.

As the day of the third task finally came, Harry, Hermione and Luna made their way to the stands to watch the show ready for the show. Luna smiled quietly while brushing her fingertips against the side of Harry's neck and the small, simple chain hanging around his neck. Hermione was smiling and gazing upon the tall green walls of the maze and the canvas 'screens' already aloft above the walls to give a view of the competition within the maze through them once the competition began in earnest.

Though given that the difference between the three other champions and Malfoy was big enough that it would likely be an hour before the boy even got to try his luck at the tasks, the fourth screen seemed hardly necessary. Still, if the Malfoy had not been expelled yet the Hogwarts student body was eagerly looking forward to seeing if he would this time around. Some felt mortified by the thought of how their school might be humiliated by the bald ferret this time around. Some were simply hoping it would be over before Draco got a chance to give it a try.

As the announcements were made, the champions were quickly sent off to the maze one after another. Cedric, Fleur and Victor made their way among the hedgerows, find their first challenges quickly enough. Little spell traps as well as dangerous creatures roamed out there, and the shifting nature of the maze kept things unpredictable. Though none of the champions were managing to dodge all the traps and monsters, it seemed they were making a decent progress but ultimately they were only half-way through before Draco was released to the maze as well.

Fleur's trail had been a touch humiliating. Levitation trap had her hanging by an ankle exposing her knickers to the world momentarily, a blast-ended skrewt had caught her by surprise leaving her deaf and dizzy before she subdued it, and given her unfortunate state running into a Sphinx and having to yell 'what' to its riddles seemed to frustrate the magical creature to the point of threatening her with harm before she hurried off to find another path ahead.

Victor had fought and defeated a small rock golem, leaped over a wide stream of black fireball ants rushing from one hedgerow to another, and proven himself a fighter when a conjured lion tried to attack him. Granted, his method of killing the foes that he faced was earning some whispers about dark magic but he wasn't pushing it to anything too gory, just effective and a touch scary.

Cedric meanwhile had come across a boggart that had quickly manifested as a stern looking older woman with an old-fashioned ruler in her hands. It would take a bit to live that one down, but given the woman would have made Voldemort seem like a cheerful and friendly fellow by comparison it might be excused. His next surprise had been in the shape of an acromantula that had actually set down thin strings across a pathway, and on a tug caused a large web to fall upon his head and almost trap him in place for the beast to bite him. Ripping himself free had cost Cedric a fair share of time, before he finally came across what appeared to be a three-headed dog growling at him.

Draco Malfoy found the paths opening up to him and he kept running as fast as he could, wanting to get to the cup as quickly as possible. As a magical trap sprung on him the young Malfoy was hit by a curse that made his skull shine like someone had polished it, but having little other effect. Draco wasn't really sure what was so bad about that, before the buzzing began.

The sweet scent in the air, and the bit of shine on his head, he found himself slightly glazed by something sweet and sticky that seemed to be drawing a swarm of little bees trying to land on top of his head. Screaming loudly and trying to flee while getting a yellow-and-black moving, living wig out of those bees the Malfoy heir was frantically trying to think of a counter curse and find out a way to get rid of them before they began stinging him.

Rushing ahead like that he wasn't looking where he was going, and ran right into an already aggravated Sphinx. It didn't help that slamming into her side he toppled over her, and in his frantic attempts to get up he managed to slip his hand over her chest. The Sphinx, who had felt already mocked earlier with the champion that seemed to pretend to be deaf was now infuriated by this groping weirdo, and expressed her displeasure eagerly.

More than a few people winced as the Malfoy robes were turned into confetti, and the fleeing wizard was covered in small bloody scratches, but at least it seemed the tussle had gotten rid of some of the glazing atop his head and his wild swinging hands managed to knock the rest of it off. Of course, the screams and yelps at the multiple stings were not encouraging.

"Doesn't he know a simple gust of wind charm could get rid of them, or even a bit of conjured smoke to stun them?" Hermione groaned slightly looking at Malfoy humiliate Hogwarts with his attempts, but Harry was trying his best not to laugh too hard. He had to keep watch of his surroundings, he knew things were not going to go smoothly tonight most likely, not with the shift in wards for the final task and the reward ceremony at the end.

At the heart of the maze, Victor Krum suddenly stiffened and got a glazed look in his eyes, turning around in one of the passages and waiting as footsteps approached his location quickly. The _crucio _he cast upon the French champion shocked the audience, but as Victor approached Fleur's downed figure to cast it again with the same dull look in his eyes a red bolt slammed into the man's back as Cedric rushed over to her side, having gotten close to the end as well already, trying to help her back up while looking around a bit worried.

Draco was almost there, the maze seemed to shift ahead of him, guide him through towards the end even though he had failed to get past more guardians or traps, a few sections just _opened up_ to let him bypass what should have been 'ringed layers of tests' in the maze, leading him closer and closer to the end. He was starting to think he would make it. Reaching a clearing, he saw the trophy there at the end, in a larger empty section of grassy field, but there was the Puff and the french gal on the other side.

Smirking, Draco saw the girl limping and Cedric trying to escort her. He charged ahead to get to the cup, sure of his triumph. Reaching a hand towards it, he grinned widely, and reached forth.

Beneath his feet, right at the final meters, a simple line in the ground imbued with a bit of magic snapped him by his ankle into the air, leaving him hanging just out of reach of the trophy, wand fallen, and his robes falling down to expose the world to the fact that Malfoy wore _vintage tightie-wighties_ complete with an animated image of the baby 'boy-who-lived' with the lightning bolt on the forehead in their front.

Harry felt a bit ill looking at his rival wearing those, but as Cedric and Fleur reached out towards the goblet, something else caught his attention. A fast moving golden ball released from the direction of the maze, zooming right at him, coming right at him and his girls. He swiftly raised his hand to catch it to stop it from smacking into him or the girls. At the last moment, he realized what it might just be, feeling the uncomfortable yank at his navel and feeling the girls arms tighten around him.

The crowd broke into a loud cheer as the green fences fell down, and Fleur and Cedric emerged before the judges stand holding onto one another and the cup. Raising their hands they waved to the crowd, a bit disoriented by their own short portkey ride.

Amidst the cheers, the only one to notice the three missing students was a man grinning maniacally under the invisibility cloak near the entrance to the maze.

**End Chapter**

A/N: So, should I leave it ambiguous like this or somehow wrench it out of myself to give 1 more chapter to provide closure to this tale, should I leave the outcome in doubt or provide people with some answers? Have people got some thoughts they'd like to toss out in the open for the heck of it anyway?

Eh, I got the chapter together but I am not sure what to think about this one myself. Again, kind of got it what I wanted, but yet it wasn't really what I was hoping it would be.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 5: Silent as a Grave**

When the golden snitch flew towards his face with such speed, Harry knew he had to either dodge it or catch it or he could lose a tooth. Despite its small size, the snitch was made to be tough enough to survive the occasional accident such as banging against a bludger or hitting a stand at a stadium during its errant flight. If it had been something else, Harry would likely have dodged it, but with a snitch, it was almost a trained reaction for him to seize control of it, and thus he had acted before thinking it through.

As the portkey in the snitch activated, a hot sensation rushed through him and the girls momentarily as the chain he carried along with the small silver locket activated, and the _portkey diverter _proved its worth. It had a portkey function of its own in case they had been taken by other means such as apparition, but given that they'd learned the cup was a portkey to take the champion that won before the judges, they had gambled on the off-chance that the plot to kidnap him relied on a portkey as well.

Appearing in a small stone cell they felt the stunners slam into them and faded to sleep, but while Hermione was panicking in that quick moment of seeing their surroundings after the landing, Luna and Harry were at ease. Waking up a few minutes later to an Enervate from Sirius' new wand, they were resting in a comfortable guest bedroom besides a still sleeping Hermione Granger, and Sirius had a serious look on his face for a change.

"So, who was it?" He asked briefly, earning a groan from Harry. "Moody, with a damn portkey-snitch." He showed the golden orb still attached to his hand like glue, causing Sirius to dispel the sticking charm. "Right, I'll take that and the squad of French aurors is ready to move now. I'll leave you to this mess." He smiled and waved, apparating away to carry out his part.

"Well Harry, its best we ask Hermione if she wants to come along then or if she would still like to go back to Hogwarts." Luna said a bit sadly. Truthfully, she liked Hermione if only she did not have such authority worship to her behavior. Perhaps the fact they had been failed by adults yet again and the search for facts about the other schools would help convince her. If not, they'd give her a return portkey to Hogsmeade and leave this place before the professors at Hogwarts could track them down.

At the grave-yard the traitorous rat heard the noise of air being quickly replaced by incoming portkey, and grinned slightly. Finally. It had taken a while to get everything in order, but the master's plan had worked even without the boy being a champion, perhaps a lot easier actually. He'd have to ask Barty when he returned, the traitor thought to himself while picking up the bundled up dark lord in a baby body, grinning wickedly while holding to his wand with the other hand to go welcome their guest.

In the mist-covered grave yard, he saw a lone figure shuffling around looking confused, short and somewhat spiky dark hair. The lightning bolt on the forehead. Yes, yes they had succeeded, and no witnesses either! "Stupefy!" He shouted and stunned the boy, as the dark lord in baby form hissed. "Nice work, Wormtail, now hurry we need to get him to the ritual site..."

Before he could carry on more however, a dozen figures rose up from behind the gravestones and a rain of stunners, body-binders and confounding hexes rushed forth. Wormtail panicked trying to put up a shield, but against an onslaught of twelve or perhaps more it was like trying to stop an arrow in flight by catching it before your face. Highly unlikely to work, perhaps professional with a lot of practice could do it, but it would require serious talent. So the end result of a bound, confounded and stunned Wormtail left a babymort on the ground, as the French aurors moved in quickly to stun and bind the tiny figure as well and inspect the site.

Short time later, a wand was pressed on Wormtail's tattoo, and as new figures in masks began to appear, a rain of curses flew once more, but this time there was no intent to try and take anyone in alive. Piercing hexes, bludgeoning curses, cutting curses, bombardment, the incoming figures barely had time to realize they were under attack before they fell, and the ones that died right away were lucky.

The French Aurors involved in this were all muggle-born or half-bloods, many of whom had been born in Britain and grown up knowing about the threat of Voldemort. Having left Britain to live in France where things were far more equal than they were in Britain, they still felt they owed it to the land of their birth to rid it of the dark wanker. They might not be there in their official capacity, and they might not report to the British DMLE, but they felt they were aurors acting under wartime orders and carried out wartime justice upon the enemy. Any that arrived that quickly were willing worshippers of worm-feeding warmonger, not imperious idiots.

In the silence of the graveyard, several masks were removed and prominent pureblood faces revealed. Several pictures were taken, and the masks returned in place, before the french aurors, and their polyjuiced bait in the form of Sirius Black left along with the captured dark wanker and the 'late order of Merlin first class recipient, Peter Pettigrew'. The French Gazette would have a field day with the evidence of British incompetence proven when Peter would face the court, though the dark wanker had a date with the French Unspeakables.

Back at Hogwarts people were congratulating their champion when a few students at the stands who had been sitting behind and above the missing trio began to shout out about Harry and his girls having gone missing. More than a few people looked up puzzled by Dumbledore smiled cruelly for a short moment. Yes, everything was proceeding as it should. With the prophecy set in motion once more the boy would eventually fall, weakening Voldemort would be a bonus but not necessary, once the prophecy was invalidated then Albus Dumbledore could step up front and center and claim the role of a hero and victorious vanquisher once more.

At the outskirts of the castle grounds professor Moody was preparing to portkey out of the place as well, the wards having snapped back into place soon after the champions had arrived before the judges, and he knew he had to cross the gates outside the wards before he could truly leave. He had delayed his own exit a bit longer to see how things went, but he was no worried, he'd be out of there and back at his master's side before they'd realize he was missing.

As Moody rushed towards the gates the polyjuice was starting to wear off but he had no desire to drink any more of the disgusting swill now that he did not have to. Hurrying ahead, he was nearly at the gates when he saw a squad of three witches step out from the shadows near the gates. He was still raising his wand when the stunners landed on him, slamming him down. Another curse bound him in ropes, while a third petrified him in his stunned, bound state. One of the witches stepped forth to rip off his sleeve to expose the dark mark on his arm, and another cast a charm on his polyjuice flask to make it glow brightly. Figure that would make the British Pureblood aurors think to check it too, well, possibly at least.

Lastly, they cast a huge fireworks display in the air above the captive professor, before retreating back outside the gates and portkeying away. Let the British sweat it out when they found that the boy-who-lived had been captured from school grounds, and a death-eater had been teaching at their school under polyjuice for several months already. Let the British ministry try and explain why a man that should already be dead was alive and back in the dark wanker's service.

Grasping their own return portkey, the witches smirked coldly as they repeated as one holding onto the metal rod tightly, "Viva la France!" With a quick tug, they were all gone, but at Hogwarts grounds, the approaching, curious crowd was just about to see the man who had set it all in motion under Dumbledore's incompetent eyes. When the papers in France would report the news, the British would be hard pressed to argue about Sirius Black anymore either, especially with Peter Pettigrew at trial in France as well.

The ones that left Barty Crouch Junior behind to be captured and quite possibly kissed for his part in stealing the boy-who-lived, and the ones that left the Pureblood bigots in murderer masks in the graveyard would receive a quiet compensation for their help, and swear to keep things secret. The official secrets act would cover their actions, and the lone report that would be made in the archives would mark it as a successful anti-terror operation that would not be spoken of for the next fifty years.

Capturing the _active _part of the Dark Wanker would let the Unspeakables start cutting off his anchors one at a time, simply snapping the connections out by cutting the astral strings from Voldemort's sides. His horcruxes would not be destroyed by that, but without a connection they would not keep him alive and active. Besides, having the active part of Voldemort's soul, they could interrogate him, track down those pieces, and eradicate them at their leisure. Voldemort himself would be in for a nasty set of tests before he would be thrown into the well of the damned, quite similar to the veil of death in Britain but still actively used here with the truly despicable.

The following years were harsh on British ministry of magic, as the other nations were starting to openly mock the backwards manners some clung onto. The pureblood elite in other nations chose to stick to 'traditionalist' academies like Durmstrang but they had be a lot more careful, while the British purebloods had been vocal and abusive for years. The graduated muggleborn and half-bloods mostly chose a life outside of Britain, and the competence level of the ministry degraded with each generation.

Dumbledore faced an inquiry on the missing Potter Heir, and as the Potter will had been broken open on the Heir's own wishes the revelations that began with the evidence in a will that Dumbledore himself had sealed began the process of burying him. The French had caught them in a lie, and Dumbledore was blamed about Sirius' lack of trial. Harry Potter was missing, and Dumbledore was blamed for failing the boy. The Lovegood heiress was missing and the purebloods were up in arms about Dumbledore failing to protect their children. The most brilliant witch of the century was gone, and her family had had some choice words to McGonagall before demanding all her paperwork in case the girl ever came back home so she could go to another school since they no longer trusted Hogwarts. Xenophilius Lovegood followed their example with the files for Luna.

The goblins attacked people financially who had taken from the Potter vaults without permission. Granted, what they could take was hardly even the annual interest since the main vault would not open to anyone but a Potter by blood, and thus Dumbledore had been unable to rob it, err, borrow it for the sake of the greater good.

Worse still the goblins made it public, and along with all the other charges it made the people finally snap and decide enough was enough. Dumbledore found himself kicked out of Wizengamot, kicked out of Hogwarts, and left with just the old Dumbledore manor and the gold he had stored in the vault beneath the old building. He wasn't a knutless old bastard, but people spat after him and cursed his name. He wasn't dead and waited for the inevitable return of the Dark Lord with a cold grin on his lips, knowing that when things went wrong the people would turn back for him and all would be forgiven, Dumbledore could do no wrong after all.

So many pureblood lineages were dead though that the number of new heads still at school made the British Wizengamot unable to reach any decisions for a while, as many of the new Heads of their families were unwilling to name a proxy, wary of any deception that might follow given the names that had already been crossed over in the family registers.

In the meanwhile, across the Atlantic Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood were studying for their masteries, both of them seeing one another and seeing other people. They had not rushed to sex but they had a good feeling they were going to celebrate that way when they had their mastery, but for now, they were in no rush. Both were seeing if they wanted to be with someone else, but in the end it seemed all the signs pointed out that they were better off with one another than they might have been with another person.

Hermione was reunited with her parents but had agreed that Britain was not for her, she had entered a very prestigious all-girls-academy on her father's insistence but kept in contact with Harry and Luna weekly by the use of enchanted mirrors. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had been working together to make the mirrors more practical, allowing one mirror to connect to multiple recipients, but so far it seemed one mirror could at most have five different connections. Still, it was starting to pick up interest and some muggle-born had picked up disguising them as cell-phones, making the glass rather small but focusing mostly on carrying out the voice rather than necessarily the image, in these creations.

Leaving Britain, Harry had not been able to retrieve his school records without announcing where he was staying at but his placement tests had put him back in his proper year-grade, other than history where he was held back due to the state of education in magical Britain. He was catching up quickly though and proving himself a good student. Luna's kisses and caresses were a great motivator after all. Finally, their OWLs and NEWTs done, the two had chosen to stay for their Masteries as well.

When they met Hermione again she had managed to shed away the blind authority worship and taken up a healthy sense of wariness. She questioned Harry about the previous years and admitted (reluctantly) that Harry had not been at his best with the lessons because he had to worry about being killed every year and dealing with too much other trouble. She had also congratulated Luna for her engagement ring, a bit of jealousy present but not overwhelming.

That was when an offer was made, one by each of the two, though Luna chose to give hers in private while Harry spoke his out in the cafe they met at in Seattle. "I need someone I can trust with my family business, the goblins have done well but I do not want to just live on my inheritance but make something of myself with that money. Luna and I have discussed this and we would like to make you a board member in our business, and receive an equal share of the profits. We may have good ideas but you have proven it so many times over the years that you can refine ideas from good to genius."

She knew it was a tempting offer, and she did want to work with her best friends for the coming years. It would help pay back her parents for the money that her education had cost, and it would give her a chance to do a lot of good too, making sure the business was ethical and profitable. She did not take long to accept this.

Luna's offer, however, caught her out of the loop for a moment and left her unable to answer that same day. "Harry is both the Head of Potters, and the Heir of Blacks. The present Head of Black, Sirius, is unfortunately sterile after a series of curses he went through in his school years, as well as the horrors of Azkaban exposure for so many long years. He may leave a fair bit for the lady he's sweet on but the family head after him will be Harry. This _would _let Harry have a second wife, and even if you'd not want that, Harry and I would both like you to stay with us. Friend, mistress, lover, a fellow wife, your decision will set out what all we may be but I am sure Harry would welcome you to be any and all of them."

As the decades passed, the wizarding world beyond Britain's shores continued to advance, while the pureblood remnants held onto their delusions of greatness and the thoughts of the old imperial era in their minds, with the talent and skill bleeding out to the foreign shores enriching them while leaving the strict pureblood regime in decline.

Dumbledore waited for the return of Voldemort for thirty years before one day Aberforth found the old man dead at the manor clutching onto his chest with one hand, and the other holding onto a newspaper proclaiming the French had tracked down and destroyed a spirit of a dark wizard and destroyed a series of illegal soul-anchors that had robbed it of its sanity long ago. He recognized the twisted image of the spirit's face and the shock of finding out someone else had derailed his plans had been too much for his old heart.

Two generations later the muggle-born revolution began to push the British Wizarding World back to the modern era, forcefully abolishing manners and methods that had been outdated and impractical, breaking down laws and prejudice that would forever strangle their potential, and opened the doors for new age of co-operation and improvement. Britain would once more be a great power among the other wizarding world nations, and they would be proud of their achievements and lineage, but the purity of blood would be damned in the same light as the mundane had damned Fascism at the end of the second world war.

**End Chapter**

A/N: Alright, last chapter, someone made a comment about this being a Dumbledore &amp; Draco bashing bit.

Yes. Yes it is. I have never claimed otherwise.

I put together a bit of weird idea for a one-shot, and seeing as some people apparently enjoyed it I thought I would expand it a bit more to cover a crack-ish tale of amusement. I wouldn't take it seriously and would not recommend others do either, and if I said I was not planning to make Dumbledore seem villainous, well that would be something that those who have read my stories so far would probably laugh at. It is just a bit absurd to expect me to do otherwise when I consider the last 2 books of the HP-verse so bad I cherish any alternatives I see out there.

Well other than yaoi, but even some yaoi stories can be good occasionally, I just cannot make any sense of the Draco/Harry or Severus/Harry stories out there. Okay, some like it, but personally I see them at the same line as Ginny/Harry and the canon-ending. They are just not worth the read in my opinion.

Of course, opinions are like a**-holes, and my opinion can raise a huge stink in some crowds but they have their own opinions and are welcome to disagree with me and write what they want or read what they want. Those stories are unlikely to find a place on my favorites list but again, FFnet has a large number of writers and the best thing we can all do is keep writing I'd wager.

Thanks for the encouragement, and for this story, this is truly the **End.**


End file.
